As is well known to those in law enforcement, a quick and easy way for criminals to gain access to a locked home is to kick a front or rear door so hard that the door lock splits the wood of the door jamb and allows entry to the formerly locked home. Not only does this type of forced entry result in the loss of valuable property but it also results in physical damage to the home or dwelling which must be repaired at substantial cost.
Prior efforts have been made to provide a security plate or door jamb support of the type which is secured not only to the door jamb, as is a conventional strike plate, but also to the underlying stud. This type of security plate typically extends for substantially the entire height of the door jamb and has either one or two apertures therein to receive the bolt of the primary door lock and any additional deadbolt or other locks used to secure the door. However, these known security plates are not universally adaptable for use with substantially any door frame and door since the apertures provided therein to receive the lock bolts must typically be custom made or tailored to accommodate many of the configurations of door locks on doors.
Although numerous types of security devices have been developed to aid in preventing the forced entry problem described above, one such device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,635,399 to Gehrke, et al. This patent discloses a door jamb support which, at first impression, is somewhat similar to the present invention. However, the reinforcement plate described therein provides only for an adjustment mechanism whereby a strike plate positioned over the reinforcement plate may be adjusted laterally in order to accommodate variances in the design of and in the position of door handle latches in doors. This type of reinforcement plate or jamb support does not provide for any capability to accommodate the vertical variances in the position of the bolts of door locks and accompanying deadbolt locks and the like which may be used therewith. Therefore, a device such as disclosed in Gehrke, et al. is not universally adaptable to all doors and frames and thus many times will have to be custom made in order to accommodate a particular door and door lock configuration. The door jamb support disclosed in Gehrke, et al. serves only to highlight the shortcomings of previously known door jamb supports and the advancement of the applicant's invention thereover.